


Kind, Strong and Vulnerable

by edwick96



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: First Meetings, Fix-It, M/M, starts when Klaus is in Vietnam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 07:45:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17935691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edwick96/pseuds/edwick96
Summary: Klaus meets the love of his life after being thrown into a war zone. After the apocalypse, he figures he has all the time in the world to try and find him again.(These two deserved so much better than they got, so here's a fleshed-out version of their love story with a fix it ending. First half set in Vietnam, second half set after the finale.)





	Kind, Strong and Vulnerable

Shit, what the hell was in that suitcase.

Klaus hit the ground hard, his head pounding and a knot in his gut. What the fuck just happened? He was on the bus after escaping Cha-Cha and Hazel he remembered and then…

Was he hallucinating? He heard a helicopter overhead. The stench of dirt and sweat filled his nostrils and when he looked around he realised he was in some sort of tent.

He swiveled his head and stared dumbly at another man, a very attractive man who was not wearing a shirt. A soldier. The other man looked at him curiously, confused because obviously Klaus hadn’t been there two seconds ago. He was used to that stare. The look of someone thinking about what a freak he was. He couldn’t help but think however that he was the most beautiful man Klaus had ever seen.

He was about to ask where, or when, he was when an enormous bang went off somewhere outside. Holy shit was that a bomb?

“Incoming!” a newcomer, an officer burst into the tent. “Go go go!” He was yelling directly at Klaus, “You got mud in your ears boy? The wars not gonna wait for you to get pretty! Someone get this man operational!”

Things were a blur after that. Clothes were shoved at him, he was handed a freaking gun. He had always considered himself a pacifist. He looked frantically around the tent for any signs that this wasn’t real. A bad trip maybe. No, that couldn’t be right, he’d been deprived of any sort of substance after those time cops kidnapped him. So a head injury then, or blood loss, they’d pushed him too far and now he’d gone mad.

Then he saw it. That fucking suitcase. He remembered some details that Number 5 had told the rest of the Academy about time travel, and the way Cha-Cha had been talking about the suitcase like it was holding weapons-grade plutonium.

He’d gone back in time, and now he was in the middle of a warzone.

 

The bus was rocking around really hard, shaking around his already pounding head. He hadn’t had it checked since he escaped back in his time. He could have a concussion or something worse.

“Hey,” a deep voice murmured close to him and he a jumped. He turned as a strong but gentle hand squeezed his shoulder.”

“Hey, did you just get in?”

It was the same man from the barracks, the one with the beautiful everything.  
“Uh yeah…” Klaus said gripping the gun they’d handed him. He had no idea how to shoot it and he dreaded the possibility that he might have to learn in the near future.

“It gets easier…” The man smiled softly and held out his hand for Klaus, who shook it, “I’m Dave”.

“Klaus…”

They stared at each other for a moment and something stirred in Klaus’ gut. Something he’d never felt before. A weird pull towards Dave that he’d never felt with anyone else. Maybe it was the fact that he was sober, or maybe it was the fact he’d never been so attracted to someone, none of the people he spent the night with in the future.

He jumped almost out of his seat when Dave touched his face gently, more gentle than any person with hands that big had any right to be, “Your ear is bleeding.” Oh right, he hadn’t washed the blood off his face from his kidnapping, didn’t have time what with being thrown into a warzone and all. Dave was looking around Klaus’ face, noticing all the other little cuts and bruises. He looked like he was staring at a soldier whose arm had just been blown off, not a stranger with a head wound.

“Didn’t you see a medic back in the tent? When did this happen?”

Hah! Klaus thought, in about sixty years. “Oh I just… fell out of bed last night. Hit my head on the cot. Not a big deal really.”

“Are you sure?” Dave looked really intense; Klaus was uncomfortable with the attention, not used to anyone caring even this tiny amount. It felt nice, but he didn’t want to shatter this cute little moment he’d fallen into. He tried not to let out a groan as Dave traced one of the cuts on his forehead. 

“Yeah I’m fine,” he smiled.  
______

Oh lord. Oh god. Oh Jiminy Crickets that was the worst day Klaus had ever experienced. He frequently talked to the dead but he was not ready to see the amount of carnage inflicted in a war zone. He couldn’t tell which soldiers were actually alive and which were the walking dead. He tried to shoot his gun as little as possible. He had never gotten into the thick of the fighting as a kid and he didn’t plan to start.

His plan had been to find the suitcase as quickly as possible and get his ass out of this twisted time.

But at the end of the day, like a mirage in the desert, he’d found a bar. His platoon made it back in one piece and to celebrate they’d headed to one of the only places open in the area.

He’d immediately tried to score, hoping some of the soldier buddies he’d made would have something to calm his nerves. He hadn’t taken anything since the time cops had kidnapped him and he was disturbingly lucid. He’d come up empty-handed, however; the only thing available was some old alcohol behind the bar. After a few drinks he decided to do one of the only things that could cause him any joy in this miserable situation. He started to dance.

Letting the music and the movements take him he was able to drown out all the horrible voices screaming for his attention, newly dead soldiers confused and scared.

He’d been dancing for a while when he bumped into someone behind him. Turning to apologize he came face to face with Dave, who he’d lost sight of after leaving the bus.

“Oh hey!” he smiled for the first time all day. He continued moving to the music.

“Hey there, I really like the way you move,” Dave said, starting to shuffle around as well, and Klaus was immediately hypnotized. This man was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen.

“I didn’t know if I was going to see you again.”

“Me neither… I’m glad I did though. You’re the first friendly face I’ve come across in… a long time,” possibly ever, Klaus thought sadly.

The rest of the night went by in a beautiful blur, dancing, grinding, and laughing. Eventually they started slow dancing, dipping each other and twirling, not giving a damn about anyone watching.

They made their way to the back of the club, and Klaus was pretty sure he was already in love. Dave had the sweetest temperament, and the most confident aura Klaus had ever come across. And the way he touched him, caressed his face, Klaus didn’t bother to hold in the moan this time.

They kissed and fireworks went off in his stomach. He really had never felt this before, it was the best high he’d ever experienced. He would happily follow this man into battle, feeling more protective than he did most of his siblings, apart from Vanya maybe.

Dave would realise if Klaus went missing. If he’d fallen off the wagon, or been kidnapped by maniac time cops. His thoughts of the suitcase left his head, certain that he’d be happier here with Dave, away from the academy, from Luther and Five and the apocalypse which now wouldn’t happen for another sixty years. He was certain they had all the time in the world.

Before they left together and continued their wonderful night one of their fellow soldiers sidled up to Klaus. 

“I heard you were little something to help you relax.” The guy pulled out a little bag of something powdered and Klaus’ mouth watered. He almost reached for it too.

“Hey you ready to get out of here?” Dave came up and asked, and linked their hands together. He gave the other soldier a suspicious stare, positioning himself a little in a sweet, protective kind of way. The other soldier backed away.

“Yeah, I’d love that…” Tonight he was after a new kind of high.

**Author's Note:**

> Please god give them more time if there's a season two.


End file.
